10 Somalis found guilty of piracy in Germany

BERLIN (AP) — A Hamburg court has convicted 10 Somali men for seizing a German container ship in the Gulf of Aden two years ago, in Germany's first piracy trial in hundreds of years.

The men — aged between 20 and 50 — were found guilty Friday of attacking shipping traffic and kidnapping and given prison sentences ranging between two and seven years, the dapd news agency reported.

When the MV Taipan was attacked in 2010, the 15-member crew sent a distress call, then locked themselves in the vessel's security room. They also stopped the ship's engine, making it impossible for the pirates to take the vessel to port.

The pirates were captured aboard by a Dutch anti-piracy unit in the area and eventually turned over to Germany.